1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device control technique for performing output operations to a device in response to a user's requests.
2. Description of the Related Art
DPOF is known as a method for simplifying a process of changing setting of a printing device during execution of printing. DPOF is an acronym for Digital Print Order Format. The DPOF is a file format standardized so as to store autoprint information and digital photo image files (hereinafter, referred to as “image files”) in demountable memory media (removable memory media) mounted in a card slot or the like and to utilize the memory media when printing the image files. The DPOF file describes information necessary for printing a specific image file stored in the removable memory medium.
Users can configure print settings of image files in advance by using the DPOF file. Therefore, users need not configure the print setting whenever one file is printed. Since the image files can be configured to have different settings, respectively, users can perform printing without changing the print settings of a printing device for each of the image files.
On the other hand, a hot folder is known as means for simplifying a process of changing setting of a printing device. In a case where specific folders which are set for specific setting items are associated with specific files and operations are performed on the specific files according to the settings of the specific folders, the hot folders are the specific folders.
That is, users can configure a hot folder with contents of print setting in advance, and when a file to be printed is dropped onto the hot folder, the file is automatically printed according to the setting of the hot folder.
Therefore, users can preserve a favorite print setting as a hot folder. Moreover, by providing a plurality of hot folders and dropping files to be printed on hot folders, in which desired print settings are designated, among the plurality of hot folders, users can manage the settings for each file. The operations implemented by the hot folders are not limited to printing but the hot folders are generally used, for example, for configuring settings of e-mail and fax transmissions.
Presently, configuring how files dropped onto hot folders will be processed require special operations of users or service men, and an invention that enables easy configuration is proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-166008, corresponding to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0102327).
In the past, users had to configure the settings of a hot folder for each setting item. Moreover, when it was desired to have different print settings for different files to perform printing using the hot folder, users had to provide a plurality of hot folders or change the settings of the hot folder whenever the files are printed.
On the other hand, when it is desired to print a large number of images with the same settings by using the DPOF file, users have to repeat the same DPOF setting operations on the entire image files.
Next, the inconvenience of the conventional examples will be described in detail.
The printing device has many print setting items. The print setting items include print quality (such as fine or fast), print sheet type, and print sheet size. Printing with the DPOF files or the hot folders requires having all of these settings being configured in advance.
For instance, a case will be considered in which a plurality of sheets are printed with settings wherein among seven setting items, five setting items have the same contents and the remaining two setting items have different contents. When such printing is executed by the use of DPOF, the different two setting items need to be configured for the entire image files to be printed. When such printing is executed by the use of hot folders, the followings are required. Users may need to prepare a plurality of hot folders having the same contents for five setting items but having different contents for two setting items. Alternatively, users may need to change the contents of the settings of the hot folder regarding only the two setting items whenever printing is performed.
As described above, in a case where among a plurality of setting items, most setting items have the same contents and only the remaining setting items have different contents, configuring the setting items with DPOF increases the number of operations to be performed.
On the other hand, in a case where among a plurality of setting items, only a small number of setting items have different contents, configuring the setting items with hot folders may produce a plurality of folders having the same settings. Therefore, the folder management is complicated. The invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-166008 decreases the number of operations by providing a special file for setting hot folders. However, since this setting file does not have a general format, a device having a special creation program is required for creating the file.